If we read on in the passage though, Jesus has more to say. Our prosperity is also at risk from extreme politics, division and fear. It could slip away through inequality, as the gap between rich and poor continues to grow and stretch the limits of democracy. Our prosperity could slip away through the breakdown of the climate, and the natural systems that all life depends on. And like the man in the story, do we risk our wealth slipping away in the night? The economy has enjoyed an abundant harvest over recent decades, but rather than looking at how we can share it with those who don’t yet have enough, we keep building bigger barns.
Poverty still exists of course, but as a matter of distribution rather than scarcity. Thinking about Britain today, are we in a similar position to the rich man in Jesus’ story? We are a rich nation. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.” ‘But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Take life easy eat, drink and be merry.’” And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’Īnd he told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. Jesus declines to get involved, and then tells this story: “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” he says, asking Jesus to adjudicate on what is a common enough family squabble. In Luke chapter twelve, Jesus is teaching and somebody comes up to him with a question.
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